So you’ve got yourself a laptop. Sparkly, shiny, expensive. Bringer of both pleasure and headaches. All rolled in to one!

Most people love these ‘digital companions’ when they’re working, an loath, despise and moan about them when they’re not working. Well our ongoing ‘Laptop Tips’ series, we’d like to give our top tips help you get the most out of them, while keeping the headaches to a bare minimum, think of this as a stress saver!

Tip 1: Laptop Stands: Laptops can be great. But it’s worth remembering there are a few compromises made when they are designed. Speed & hard-drive size being obvious ones. But less obvious are the compromises made ergonomically – factors that can lead to fatigue, discomfort and injury while using laptops.
The keyboards are relatively flat and small, and therefore less ergonomic than desktop computer keyboards. The screens are generally smaller than is ideal for your eyes, and certainly the screen height being lower than eye level is far from ideal ergonomically. This is bad for your hands and arms, contributing to Repetitive Strain Injury. And is bad for your neck and back, leading to achy joints.
(It’s a much bigger problem than most people realise. Have a look at these posture diagrams, if you need more information)
Laptop stands go some way to addressing these compromises. They raise/angle the keyboard to position generally considered ergonomically better. And most importantly they raise the screen level to something close to the ideal, meaning less leaning from the neck and back for you.
This may not sound like a big deal, but once someone tries a decent laptop stand, most absolutely won’t be parted from it ! It really does make that much of a difference.
Additionally many laptop stands can give your more desk-space, and can make the laptop run cooler and quieter, by giving better airflow. Both of which can be extremely useful for certain people. Not that many modern laptops need it, but some stands can even give you extra USB ports for plugging peripherals like that printer and scanner sitting on your desk.

As with many computer related products, there are good and bad examples, these are our favorites:

The Logitech Alto Express:

Cost: £13-£17, inc. V.A.T.
If you have a laptop with a 15inch screen or less (yes that bit is important!), for simply making your laptop more comfortable to use, this product really can’t be beat! It reduces fatigue on the hands, fore-arm, neck and back, while giving you more desk-space (the curved shaped leaves a decent sized space underneath, perfect for things like laptop power supplies etc.). It has rubber feet which stop it sliding on the desk. And the increased airflow from it’s curved design also makes the laptop run cooler and quieter! Wonderful!

The Trust “Xstream” laptop stand:
Cost: £12-£16, inc. V.A.T.
Can be adjusted to 5 different heights, is designed to increase airflow around your laptop, has protective rubbers pads to stop desk slippage/scratching, lightweight and foldable (would probably fit in a large laptop bag). Is suitable for laptops with screen sizes up 17.4″, has 2 fold-out flaps at bottom that mean laptop is secure on stand. And if your laptop needs more USB ports, there’s also a USB version with a built-in 4-port USB Hub for around £17-£23, inc. V.A.T. .

Next time, recommended cleaning products, to get that icky finger grease off your laptop screen and keyboard…

It’s so easily done. Tripping over the power cable you left plugged in to the wall. Knocking over the lemonade that was next to the laptop while you were surfing the web. Slipping when walking past the laptop you left on the floor, and then hearing that crack as you shoe connects with that oh-so-fragile screen! The list goes on and on, and if you’ve got kids the question is not ‘will they’ drop it/step on it/spill on it, but simply ‘when’.

Ok, so first-up if/when it does happen, don’t just start panicking. You’re biggest worry will often be “Have I lost all my documents/pictures/files?”. And generally the answer is no. That is very rare. – PHEW! Ok, so breath a sigh of relief, and lets assess rational what is the best, most financially sensible way to do deal with it:

Assuming it can be repaired (likely), the 2 equations you have to work out, are:
“Will repairing the laptop cost more in money AND time, than it was worth before the accident?” and
“How much will it cost, to buy a replacement laptop that will do for me, what the old one did?”
There are some other factors (speed of old laptop vs. new, life expectancy of an average laptop etc.), but these really are the main ones.

Ok, so at time of writing, the most regular laptop repairs, with very approximate costs, are:

Note, that despite the size difference, Netbook repairs cost pretty much the same.

Your time, to deal with an average repair: 2 hour 30mins, including price comparison.

So the above gives you an idea of repair cost (money and time). Now what was the laptop worth before the accident? Bearing in mind, that they only last about 5 years on average. Less if they move around a lot (anyone travel for business?) or are used by kids. So if say the laptop is 4 years old, you almost have to assume it’s an economic write-off. But a pound symbol value? Well, something is only worth what someone will pay for it. Research on eBay shows that generally 2nd hand laptops sell for no more than £155, with absolute top-end machines (in their day) fetching only £200. Read that again, yes, if you bought a £1,000 laptop 2 years ago, it is now worth no more £200 – before any accidents!

Ok, so cost of replacement: The average price of a regular sized laptop today is around £390. That’s a good brand, good specification, and the popular 15 inch screen that almost everybody chooses these days. Take note, that if you get a slightly larger or smaller screen the price increases significantly. Hence the 15inch models are so popular.
Buying second-hand laptops is very risky. Unlike desktop computers, they have a shorter life expectancy, due to them being moved about more. You just never know how many times a 2nd hand laptop has been dropped. We really don’t recommend it. Especially now that new laptops are so very cheap.

Doing anything other buying a new laptop is a risk you must recognise. Repairs do not always last the rest of the laptops life. Power socket repairs in particular. Repairs generally only have a 1 month warranty, and at most 3 months – not very re-assuring. Equally 2nd hand laptops generally have no warranty, and even when they do, you can’t always trust the small-shop seller to not ‘disappear’ in the event of a problem.

At this point it’s worth talking about dedicated laptop insurance, why, because prevention is better than cure. Be prepared. At least one in seven people are not actually covered by either their home contents specialist insurance. Quite a shock hey! Up till now, everything we’ve spoken about has been bad, depressing, expensive. None of it good. Now granted, insurance doesn’t suit everyone. Some people are super careful around their laptop. Some laptops hardly ever ‘travel’ at all. But certainly if you have kids, or you constantly take your laptop to cyber-cafes, train stations, airports etc. etc., it is probably very worthwhile. Most laptops can be insured for Accidental Damage for £43.89 per year from someone like Gadget Cover. So do the maths, The thing has a 5 year life expectancy, so that’s (5 x £43.89 =) £219.45 to insure it for its expected life. On average they now cost £390 to buy new. What this means, is that if over a 5 year period you travel with the laptop or have kids around it, something happens to the laptop that would justify an insurance claim, then you are (£390 – £219.45 =) £170.55 better off, having taken insurance, rather than not.
How many kids do you know that can be careful for 5 years in a row? In this scenario, laptop insurance will probably save you money, not cost you money. And not by a few pence but by £170!

So, in conclusion, how people deal with a broken laptop depends on how expensive a repair it would need. On average people only repair them if they are less than 2 and a half years old, and need less than £230 of repairs. Otherwise it’s just not worth it. Also, if you travel with it, or have kids with it, dedicated laptop insurance can prove financially sensible.

Just to make the point that laptops are everywhere these days, we recently read about this homeless man who is the proud owner of what looks like a Dell Inspiron.

Tom Sepa is also in possession of a tent and a job as a telemarketer (using his mobile phone and head set from an internet cafe), but the San Francisco native shuns the label of ‘tramp’ and does not even consider himself to be homeless.

Owning a guitar and an iPod, as well as laptop and mobile phone, Mr Sepa would ideally take out an inclusive gadget insurance policy – Unfortunately, not having a permanent address means that taking out a policy might be difficult and if I owned an insurance company, I’m not sure I’d consider Sepa’s late model Chevy to be a safe home for any gadget.

In laptop terms you can’t really match the destructive power of a car.

The Israeli Defence Force has shot a student’s laptop after a lengthy interrogation.

Yet another case of a major laptop manufacturer having to recall a batch of machines due to potentially dangerous overheating was announced yesterday (10th December 2009).

Packard Bell Battery Fire Scandal

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